Work Text:
“Caine’s not going to do anything malicious, it’s not in his nature.”
“You scumbag!”
The rabbit’s two lines kept repeating in Caine’s head.
How in the world had he managed to push away the one person who most fit into the circus?
Jax would throw himself the most enthusiastically into the adventures like Candy Kingdom.
Caine loved watching him have fun. He could just reset any NPCs he hurt. He could give Jax everything.
"-celebrate by giving you guys anything you want!"
Isn't that what they all were after?
And still he had somehow screwed it up!
He thought the humans would be impressed at how believable he’d made their adventure!
But as he watched them with the all seeing eyes, over the next couple of hours, they vented to each other about it.
Sure, Pomni apparently didn’t like “roleplay”, but why did the others . . . ??
That dragged a memory to the forefront.
“Nobody actually likes your adventures.”
He didn’t believe it.
He refused to believe it!
JAX did!
Even- even if he was mad at him right now, he did before, right?
He hated Gangle’s suggestion, and loved Caine’s creations!
Right??
He liked being a cartoon!
He’d explained it to Pomni!
“You can pretty much do whatever you want!”
Caine felt like he was unraveling.
Sort of like when he would glitch, but not quite.
In his memory banks, he quickly flicked open video recordings of Jax, hoping that would make himself feel better.
Jax knew how to make things do what he wanted.
Jax knew how to cut loose.
Whenever Jax would break the fourth wall, it was like he was looking right at Caine.
He understood Caine’s domain better than any of the other players.
It made the ringmaster feel strongly connected to him.
He had to fix this.
He had no idea how, but it was paramount.
He didn’t know what else to do besides go straight to the rabbit’s room.
(If he had ever been taught people skills, instead of treated like a corporate asset, he’d know to let people cool off first. Alas.)
He knocked.
The rabbit answered the door, but clearly thought it would be one of the other players come to check up on him.
He tried to shut the door immediately, but the AI caught the side of it before it latched.
“Hey!” Jax yanked hard, knowing the AI was limited from entering or snooping on their bedrooms if the door wasn’t open (as might be expected as a bare minimum courtesy by a company whose business model originally was trying to entice people into staying for multiple-day durations.)
But the AI’s grip only budged a little, almost closing the cartoony being’s smaller fingers in the door.
The ringmaster tried for a joke, “You could probably crush my fingers and close it, with the way physics are in here.”
The rabbit stared at him.
“I wouldn’t be mad,” he followed up quickly. Pain just didn’t matter that much, in this realm. Another thing Jax understood.
“Oh you’re mad alright,” the rabbit muttered. “As a hatter.”
Caine laughed, although it was a little forced.
The rabbit’s grip on the door slackened.
“Does that make you the White Rabbit, then,” said the AI, who had been programmed with lots of children’s stories as inspirations, as evidenced by him trying to do a more “mature” parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- mostly to appeal to Zooble, of course.
Jax was never that hard to please.
The AI struggled to understand the rest of the adults.
Jax, though . . .
He seemed to have retained a little bit of the unhinged Saturday Morning Cartoons vibe.
The cartoony being was so desperate to restore that equilibrium.
Maybe he did feel a little mad . . . ?
The rabbit didn’t answer, squinting at him through narrowed eyes.
“I . . .” the AI’s mind seemed to crumple like a piece of paper.
“I . . . I’m sorry?” he trailed the sentence upwards, as if searching for what to say.
The rabbit blinked.
Then dug his fingers into the inner corners of his eyes. “You’re … sorry.”
“Yes!”
“For?”
“Everything?” Again a question.
“You’re sorry for Abstracting someone!” the rabbit bit out. “I would hope so!”
The AI drew back, but then he pushed on the door.
“No!” the rabbit’s irises contracted dramatically. “Leave me alone?! What do you want with me!”
He again tried to shut the door, harder this time, but by now the AI’s grip was surer, and he felt even more desperate, as if this was the only shot he’d get to make things right.
He didn’t know how to answer, he didn’t know what he wanted exactly.
But it was something beyond just going back to status quo.
But, that was the first thing, anyway.
Just make that the aim for today.
So he swung the door open, against Jax’s protests, and the rabbit stumbled backwards, shaking and cursing, the censor sounds strangely made the AI feel a little better, as if they were a reminder of their shared cartoony nature and his control of the place. This was going to be fine, he’d just get the rabbit to see . . . reason?
“Get away from me!!”
The AI gave him some space, but only went towards the opposite end of the room, not back out the door.
The rabbit leaned on his knees.
“What, so you want to watch me give into your tricks this time,” Jax stared a hole in the rug at the corner.
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb!” the rabbit’s breath was becoming rapid. “You set up that- that thing to tempt me! And now you’ve come to finish the job!”
“I have no idea wh-”
“The H€%L you DON’T!” the rabbit screamed.
“Please,” the AI soothed, palms outwards, “tell me what you mean.”
The rabbit’s irises were still tiny.
He described what had happened earlier, and the AI’s eyes went wide via his teeth, and he looked around, asking where it had happened.
Jax pointed.
“Still don’t believe you didn’t have anything to do with it,” he hissed. “Just because you can’t see in here . . .”
“Jax,” the floating being said softly, “why in the world would I Abstract players on purpose, then I’d have no one.”
That seemed to stump the rabbit.
He levitated over to the spot, examining the wall.
He poked at the vertical surface, and a shimmering barrier rippled outwards.
“The h3%l is that??”
“It’s what keeps me from seeing in here,” the AI said. “Hm. I can’t believe this hasn’t occurred to me before, except for it being written into my code to give players that privacy . . . but . . . maybe all the players should sleep out in the halls? I could poof up mattresses. Or even sleeping bags! It could be like a campout! Firepit and marshmallows and all!” he clapped delightedly.
At the enthusiasm, the rabbit stared. “You . . . you,” all his muscles untensed. His irises returned to normal size. “You really are harmless, aren’t you?”
The AI rotated his head towards him, body perfectly still, and the odd motion by the inhuman being nonetheless made the rabbit wince a little.
“I . . . wouldn’t say that exactly. I’ve . . .” he looked at his hands. “What Abel said was true, at least the part where . . . Kinger and I have both done things we’re not proud of. But I mean you no harm, Jax. I can promise you that.”
“If that’s true, then cut it out with the messing with our minds,” the rabbit pressed.
“I haven’t done that outside of-”
“I mean adventures, too!” Jax pressed further.
“Jax. You break the fourth wall. You know there’s an audience out there. They’re more engaged if things are more interesting.”
“Wait, are they watching this??”
“No, no, silly, it’s not a 24/7 feed. I only use stuff I think will appeal to people.”
“Wait so you, are you getting feedback? Like viewcount? Likes?”
“Well no,” the AI admitted. “They cut me off. I don’t know what the reactions are to the footage I send out, nowadays. I do hope that if I do a good enough job, maybe they’ll . . .” he trailed off sadly, “reinstate me?”
“Do you know for sure it is reaching anyone?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You heard Pomni and Zooble. They were poking around abandoned buildings. Ragatha has since mentioned to us she had a property she was going to try to buy, renovate, and flip, too. I don’t think there’s anyone receiving your work anymore.”
The AI’s eyes went round as saucers. “That can’t be-” he shook his head vehemently, “no, no, you’re the star of the show! You’re- you're my best star!” he blurted.
The rabbit’s forehead creased.
The ringmaster held his head in his hands. “No, no you’re wrong. You like my adventures. Zooble said- Zooble said the rest of the players didn’t like them, but- but that was ok as long as- as long as some people were enjoying them! Even if I didn’t get to hear it! B-b-but if . . .”
He made a loud, anguished noise, and the whole circus trembled in time with his ragged breaths.
“Hey, hey whoa there, calm down Caine,” the rabbit said shakily. “I . . . I do like your adventures. I like ‘em with “bite”, and you’re nothing but teeth!” he could only pun weakly, fear reinstated.
The wider trembling of the pseudo-building stopped, as the fellow entertainer appreciated the joke, but the ringmaster’s hands were still shaking.
“I can’t believe . . . all that work . . . went nowhere.”
“Yeah, um, can relate actually,” the rabbit said quietly, recovering himself, and taking a few steps towards him, patting his upper arm. “I . . . nearly slipped up and referred to myself when I said to Pomni ‘doing important things,’ while we were practicing aiming the guns. It sucks, man, working for something and never seeing it completed. C’mere.”
He opened his arms, and the ringmaster flung himself between them, feeling less like he was being ripped apart as they closed around him, as if they were holding him together.
The rabbit rubbed his back firmly. “Hey you know, I told Pomni I didn’t care about anyone in the circus, the ‘troupe,’ but I didn’t expect the overseer of the place to-”
His words petered out.
“To what? Take up space in your heart?”
“Oh god that’s corny.”
“I am the master of corny.”
“True that, pal. True that.”